Verla Insko: Insightful leader

When I learned Tom Ross had been asked to retire as president of the UNC system, I felt a shift in my confidence about the future.

Suddenly, the long-term stability of UNC and the UNC System isn’t so clear. It’s more than just the amazing progress we’ve seen over the past 50 years at UNC-CH; the entire history of the university is marked with enlightened leadership. From its founding in 1789 as the nation’s first public university, to its role as one of the first public Ivies, its part in the founding of Research Triangle Park, its first Nobel prize winner and its recent leadership in grant funded research, it has consistently been ranked one of the best universities in the nation.

Since the 1950s, UNC has been a major economic driver of the state. It’s hard to imagine any need for a change in course just as we are emerging from the Great Recession and needing a better-educated work force. The University System as it was becoming under the insightful leadership of President Tom Ross is the University we need to meet the challenges just ahead.